Social Workers (Adults Social Care)

Bexley is an outer London Borough with the best of both worlds, located between the hustle and bustle of London and the Garden of England, Kent. Within the borough we have award winning parks, open spaces and listed heritage sites.

Bexley’s Hospital Integrated Discharge Team:

The Hospital Integrated Discharge (HID) Team covers any hospital in the UK where any ordinary residents of Bexley might be admitted to or have an A&E attendance to, and will work collaboratively with health colleagues to facilitate safe discharges in a timely manner.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Darent Valley Hospital (DVH), University Hospital Lewisham (ULH) and Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) are the main referring hospitals, however, referrals from any other hospitals with ordinary residents of Bexley are also accepted.

There is an agreement for the HID Team to also cover some Mental Health Units from Oxleas, and mainly those specialised in Dementia Care for those 65+, and Shepherleas Ward and Holbrook Ward and Scadbury Ward are our main referring mental health units.

Also, the HID Team covers all inpatient rehabilitation units too, being Meadowview Unit in Queen Mary Hospital for physical rehab and Blackheath Brain Injury Rehabilitation Centre for neuro rehab the main referring units.

The team is based within the grounds of Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Woolwich, London Borough of Greenwich, and provides outreach to the other hospitals and units mentioned above.

Bexley Adult Social Care understands ‘personalisation’ means personal choice, so we have redesigned services aiming to offer people who use Bexley services increased options, choice and control about the care and support they receive and how this support is delivered.  

Forward thinking: Bexley Adult Social Care has since 2017 worked in an integrated way with our health partners, pooling budgets and offering matrix management through our Bexley Care model.  This supports practitioners to offer strengths-based, solution – focused, creative support options to individuals.    

At Bexley we understand that we still have a way to go to ensure people who need support from adult Social Care are fully involved and co-producers of services, our starting point has been to work with a consortium of Bexley voluntary services who, on the Council’s behalf, undertake assessments and reviews ensuring that those people are able to live their ‘best lives’.
  
We value and recognise that our staff are our greatest asset, we pride ourselves in growing, developing and supporting reflective practitioners through our Professional Standards Academy and so we are keen to engage and broaden our pool of reflective and talented Social Workers to provide the best support to our most vulnerable residents.  This means that you will have experience of delivering services to people with differing and diverse needs, be dedicated to continual learning and pro-active in developing your practice skills and knowledge.  

The main purpose of the job is to facilitate the safe discharge of service users from hospitals, mental health units and rehab units in accordance with the designated Hospital Discharge Pathway, as stated in the Statutory guidance set out by the Department of Health and Social Care.
Please refer to the Job Description attached for more information. 

The team operates a hybrid model of work, consisting of some days office based and some days working from home, however there is a minimum of one day per week of mandatory attendance to the office which is a fixed day for the whole team.

Driving is not essential but there are parking facilities on site if the worker opts for this option, as well as mileage and other car expenses.

We will offer you in return a package that includes a competitive salary, an excellent pension scheme and generous annual leave plus bank holidays. For more information on the benefits package on offer please refer to the Candidate Information document attached. 

We have multiple posts that we are recruiting for, and to manage recruitment we will be shortlisting periodically, and you may be invited for an interview before the closing date.  The Council reserves the right to close this vacancy earlier than the advertised closing date if the vacancies are then filled.  

We currently have several Social Work posts available for Social Work England registered practitioners that have completed their Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) and have a level of experience in the area of work, and, we also have one Newly Qualified Social Work post for a candidate willing to complete their Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE). 

For the full list of essential and desirable criteria for this role please refer to the Person Specification within the Job Description attached. 

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). 

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.  

 
This post is considered by the Local Authority to be a customer-facing position; as such it falls within scope of the Code of Practice on English language requirement for public sector workers. The council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the JD/Person Specification. These will be applied during the recruitment/selection and probationary stages.   

Use the ‘Apply for vacancy’ button. 

Please note that the system has a one-hour time limit. We would advise you to prepare your answers separately and then copy and paste into the online form once finalised and have your CV and/or Supporting statement ready to upload. 

 
If any mandatory fields are missing, a pop-up box will appear at the top of the page advising which sections require completion. Please check your Junk email for any correspondence. 
 
Additional Information 

As a disability confident employer Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact us.